Introduction to the Special Issue: Digital Magic, Digitalized Magic

Abstract: In the past twenty years, the term "magic" has become a common buzzword in the fields of Science and Technology, Computing and Media Studies, often inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's famous Third Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The present special issue explores and problematizes this conflation of magic and high tech, in contexts ranging from robotics and generative AI to the magical technologies of the early VHS videography.